Vivendi rises after improving profit forecasts and reassuring over buys September 1, 2010 Vivendi, Europe’s largest telecom and entertainment group, yesterday raised its profit targets on the back of forecast-beating first-half results. The firm also reassured investors on its acquisition strategy, lifting its flagging stock. Vivendi shares have slid to seven-year lows relative to the European market, largely underperforming peers on concerns about acquisitions, the cost of a [...]
Report mulls impact of BHP bid for Potash October 3, 2010 AN INDEPENDENT report on the impact of a takeover of Canada’s PotashCorp will today reignite the country’s debate over the implications of such a move, as expectations of a Chinese-led counterbid to BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£24.7bn) offer begin to dwindle. The report by the Conference Board of Canada will make no recommendations, though it will [...]
Report mulls impact of BHP bid for Potash October 3, 2010 AN INDEPENDENT report on the impact of a takeover of Canada’s PotashCorp will today reignite the country’s debate over the implications of such a move, as expectations of a Chinese-led counterbid to BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£24.7bn) offer begin to dwindle. The report by the Conference Board of Canada will make no recommendations, though it will [...]
BHP moves on from Potash takeover bid November 15, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton’s shares rose yesterday following its decision to abandon its hostile takeover of Potash Corp and begin a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) share buyback, as analysts pored over the world’s largest mining group’s next move. BHP’s London-listed shares closed 1.8 per cent up at £24.06, outperforming a 0.4 per cent gain in the FTSE [...]
BHP clears first hurdle in Potash takeover bid September 24, 2010 BHP Billiton cleared the first regulatory hurdle in its bid for Canada’s Potash but the miner still has a long way to go to pass the deal with Canadian authorities and the target’s shareholders. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, said it received antitrust clearance from the US Federal Trade Commission to proceed with its [...]
Vivendi sells its NBC stake September 27, 2010 Vivendi has offloaded its stake in NBC Universal to General Electric (GE) for $2bn (£1.26bn). The French conglomerate sold a third of its 20 per cent stake and says it will sell the remainder for $3.8bn when GE completes a separate deal with entertainment firm Comcast. Earlier this month Vivendi chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy said [...]
Female workers allege bias at Goldman Sachs September 15, 2010 THREE women who formerly worked for Goldman Sachs are suing the Wall Street giant for what they say is rampant gender discrimination that unfairly favours men in pay and promotions. The lawsuit filed yesterday alleges that Goldman has violated federal and New York City laws by engaging in a systematic “pattern and practice” of discrimination [...]
Don’t ignore the ticking time bombs November 7, 2010 THERE are always two sides to every story. In the main, as I have long been arguing, the global economy has bounced back. Friday’s strong job figures in the US – payrolls are up 400,000 in the past three months – severely embarrassed the bears and supporters of QE2, as did most of last week’s [...]
UBS to fight plagiarism accusations August 11, 2010 UBS last night said it would “vigorously” fight a potentially embarrassing lawsuit from a small news agency, which has accused the investment bank of lifting copyrighted material for its in-house updates. Energy Intelligence, an oil and gas reporting service, claims UBS reproduced parts of its articles for its own energy newsletter, Daily Oil News. It [...]
UBS to fight plagiarism accusations August 11, 2010 UBS last night said it would “vigorously” fight a potentially embarrassing lawsuit from a small news agency, which has accused the investment bank of lifting copyrighted material for its in-house updates. Energy Intelligence, an oil and gas reporting service, claims UBS reproduced parts of its articles for its own energy newsletter, Daily Oil News. It [...]